The Secret Army - Chapter 6
by Frank Crowell
Summary: doing a lot of recruiting...we get to see a bit of the...specialties of the recruits


Chapter 6  
  
I took Jessica back upstairs and told her everything. She took it surprisingly well. After she came to, she was very eager to help in any way she could.  
  
"So what do we need to do?" She asked.  
  
"Study people for three days at a time. After three days if they don't go down to the yeerk pool, they aren't controllers, and they join us."  
  
"Well that's pretty detailed...and time consuming, unless we are planning on studying several people at a time...a very difficult task...we would only be able to study two people every three days...if we're to get a decent sized army it could take weeks. Even months."  
  
"This factor has not escaped me, but what do you suggest?"  
  
"A more...drastic approach."  
  
"Such as..."  
  
"You know the old trick where one person crouches behind someone while another person in front of them pushes them over, thereby falling over the crouching person?"  
  
"Yes, and by the way, that's a marvelous display of articulation."  
  
"Shut up...anyway, you and I, we go up to someone, only one of us, say me, is behind the person, where they don't know I'm there, and you say something about yeerks...if they react in a way that leads us to believe they are a controller, POW, they're knocked out."  
  
"Great plan, but there's a problem...if a controller knows who I am, and knows that I know...that's a bad thing."  
  
"So if they give you trouble afterwards, you put your acting skills to the test, pretend you never did anything like that, they figure it was just one of these andalites disguised as you."  
  
"They wouldn't leave anything to chance, they'd still infest me."  
  
"Ok, then how about a disguise?"  
  
"Aha...that I can do."  
  
**************************  
Before we did anything, we developed a list of prospective team members. Jessica was rather popular, and knew more about the other people in school than I did, so she did most of the nominating.  
  
"Who do you suggest?" I asked.  
  
"Right there. Nathaniel Bluto." She responded, pointing.  
  
"The big guy?"  
  
"Right."  
  
"Temperament?"  
  
"Mellow, good-natured, friendly, generous, helpful. Generally a nice guy."  
  
"Assets?"  
  
"well, strength, obviously, reflexes, speed, and, believe it or not, intelligence. Got an IQ that is off the charts. I'm talking unexplored territory here. Brilliant strategist, writes the plays for the football team and in the past four years has lost only once in chess."  
  
"He's on the chess team?"  
  
"uh-huh."  
  
"Liabilities?"  
  
"Claustrophobic."  
  
"Well...put him on the list. What about the lovebirds over there?"  
  
"Cassie would be very moralizing, the type that doesn't dissect frogs because it's against her principles. Jake would be good, but he is incredibly loyal to Cassie, which isn't a problem in itself, except for the problems that come from her. Erek King could work...smart, very smart, and strong, but he's a pacifist, could cause problems, but I think the assets outweight it. He's a golden boy in The Sharing."  
  
"The Sharing?"  
  
"This club thing for kids. I went as a guest once, but didn't get into it much. I kept thinking about Disturbing Behavior."  
  
"Disturbing Behavior?"  
  
"Yeah, you know, the movie where..."  
  
"I know what the movie is," I interrupted, "think about it, troubled kids join a club, suddenly become 'perfect.' Then we, the audience, discovers that it's a mind-control scheme. You made the comparison."  
  
"So you think The Sharing is an organization to try and get hosts?"  
  
"It's just speculation, but I don't want to take the risk."  
  
"Ok, Sharing people are out."  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"Rachel? Not exactly a people person. There's a good one. Tyrone Black."  
  
"Temperament?"  
  
"Nice guy, a little eccentric...or so he would have people believe."  
  
"Assets?"  
  
"Also very intelligent. Straight A's in chemistry, C's and B's in everything else. Once mixed some chemicals which ate a whole clear through his desk. Recieved an A on the assignment."  
  
"Liabilities?"  
  
"A bit of a firebug."  
  
"What about that guy?"  
  
"Marco? You've got to be kidding."  
  
"Alright, forget I asked."  
  
"Besides, he's always hitting on me, you'd get jealous."  
  
"What? Why would I get jealous?" I asked. She just smiled.  
  
"Phil Frank is a good possibility. Computer whiz. Last year got straight A's in all his classes, and it's not because his work was good."  
  
"So he's a hacker?"  
  
"yeah, pretty good one too, from what I've heard." We finally got a list of about twenty people, and, with my disguises, put our plan into action. As stated, Jessica stood behind them, ready, and I would lean in so only they could hear and say, "I know about the yeerks. I know about everything." If they reacted, they were knocked out and I changed disguises and went on to the next person. If they didn't know what I was talking about, we took them to the Yeerk pool. A little over half the people we tested were controllers. We ended up with nine people, including Jessica and myself. Among the people we had was Nathaniel Bluto, Tyrone Black, and Phil Frank. We also got an electronics nut, Amanda Timmons, who has every electronic toy known to man. There was Marcia Kim, a martial arts expert, Bindi Sue Hogan, the daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of wildlife trackers, and Mary Nelson, a gymnast. We were...  
  
A/N: I meant to end with the revelation of the name of the group, but i couldnt think of one...suggestions gladly accepted  



End file.
